JEREMY Corbyn told a private meeting of MPs last week that Labour cannot afford to turn down another election request from Boris Johnson.

The Labour leader has already ordered his MPs to reject two opportunities to trigger a General Election since the start of last month as part of his attempts to prevent a No Deal Brexit.

The PM may try again to get approval for a General Election as part of his bid to break the Brexit deadlock in the coming days.

And in a meeting with a group of Labour MPs last week Mr Corbyn he admitted the party would be castigated by their own supporters and voters if they turned down a third request.

According to one of those present he said: “We just cannot afford to turn down another election request.”

COLLISION COURSE

But yesterday Labour officially said the party’s backing for a General Election was conditional on the length of the Brexit extension.

A source said: “To take No Deal off the table, the extension has to be long enough to actually hold an election.”

Mr Corbyn’s desperation for backing an election put him on a fresh collision course with his Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell and fellow pro-Remain frontbenchers who want Labour to force through a second referendum before giving the green light for an election.

The power struggle was played out in a fractious shadow cabinet meeting yesterday, with Corbyn loyalists demanding the party go for a snap election.

Frontbenchers including Laura Pidcock and Dan Carden called for the party to back Mr Corbyn’s preference for an early election instead of trying for a second referendum.

But Sir Keir Starmer insisted Labour must do their best to force through a second referendum and then campaign for Remain.

The Brexit split within the Labour frontbench then spilled over, with Labour party chairman Ian Lavery furiously accusing Sir Keir of “ramming this policy down my throat for 18 months,” according to The Guardian.

On Monday night the Labour whips were described as “downbeat” over the prospects of preventing the PM from triggering a General Election again – fearing the party would lose it and be left powerless to stopping the PM’s Brexit deal from eventually passing.

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